Pohnpei Diving

In July 1978, Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap voted to share a constitution, and in May 1979 they became the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Micronesia agreed to let the US control its relations with other countries and maintain its exclusive military access under a 15-year compact signed in 1982. In turn, the US guaranteed annual funding. The compact was officially implemented in 1986 and in 1991 the FSM was admitted to the United Nations.

While the country's total land area amounts to only 270.8 square miles, it occupies more than one million square miles of the Pacific Ocean, and ranges 1,700 miles from East (Kosrae) to West (Yap). Each of the four States centers around one or more "high islands," and all but Kosrae include numerous atolls. Pohnpei State is made up of one large volcanic island and six inhabited atolls, with a total land mass of 133.4 square miles, of which 130 is accounted for by Pohnpei island, the largest in the FSM.